Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the area of England that is likely to be covered by trees and woodland in 2020; and how this compares with (1) Northern Ireland, (2) Scotland, and (3) Wales.

We have not made an estimate of tree cover in 2020. The Forestry Commission collects and publishes information on tree and woodland cover. The most recent survey results, combining the National Forest Inventory and the assessment of Tree Cover Outside Woodland in Great Britain concluded that tree canopy cover is 15% in England, 19% in Scotland and 19% in Wales. Comparable statistics are not available for Northern Ireland.

These percentages are unlikely to be significantly different by 2020.